BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
There are certain games that you circle on a calendar and this was one of them.
On August 31, My photographer Candy and I made the trek north on The Florida Turnpike and then finished the five-hour trip on I-75 to see the Miami Hurricanes thrash Florida 41-17. This was an outcome few expected. Miami earned its signature victory on opening night.
The following two weeks saw Miami manhandle Florida A&M and Ball State by 56-9 and 62-0 scores.
The second game on my calendar was on Saturday as Miami visited My Alma Mater, the University of South Florida Bulls at Raymond James Stadium.
Going into the contest, USF had a 2-1 record with wins over Bethune Cookman and Southern Mississippi. USF’s only loss was to the Alabama Crimson Tide on the road.
Meanwhile, Miami entered the game 3-0 and looking to see if it could be tested before the start of the ACC Schedule which starts at 7:30 PM Friday vs Virginia Tech.
This game featured the battle of quarterbacks with USF signal caller Byrum Brown squaring off against Miami’s Cam Ward.
Both QB’s lived up to their billing as Brown completed 19-of 30 passes for 254 yards, ran for 27 yards and caught a touchdown pass from wide receiver Sean Atkins.
Meanwhile, Ward passed for 404 yards and three touchdowns, plus ran for 43 yards.
The game would be competitive in the first half as the Bulls lead 15-14 with 2:36 to go in the first half. This was the first time that Miami trailed all-season.
Even Canes Coach Miami Cristobal quipped about it during the post game press conference.
But Miami had some unsung hero’s in this contest and I asked Cristobal about running back Damien Martinez, who scored three rushing touchdowns. Wide receiver Isaiah Horton had a career day vs the Bulls as he caught eight catches for 108 yards and a touchdown.
As usual, Xavier Restrepo had a good night at the office by amassing 99 yards on six catches with a touchdown. Restrepo has scored five touchdown in all four of Miami’s games.
Samuel Brown caught two catches for 75 yards and a touchdown.
Miami led 22-15 at halftime, and proceeded to score 36 unanswered point to cruise to a 50-15 win over their cross state rivals. USF was held without a sack for the first time this season after posting three in every previous game on the year.
USF’s leading receiver was Atkins, who made a career-high 11 catches for 125 yards to move into second all-time in career receptions (145) and fifth all-time in career receiving yards (1,695) at USF.
The final numbers for this game were interesting as Miami led in first downs 27-23. Passing yards favored the Canes 404-303. Miami manhandled USF in rushing yards 188-62, but 91 of the Canes yards came on a touchdown from Jordan Lyle.
Time of possession also favored Miami 31:22-28:38. There was no question that this was a hard-fought contest but No.8 Miami showed the Tampa Bay Area how good this squad is and that thus far, they’re the best team in Florida.
I’ve told you the story thus far, but when you watch the videos, they’ll tell you the rest.
The Bulls will not have to worry about rescheduling their game due to Hurricane Helene as they return to action on the road Saturday to face Tulane (2-2) at Noon ET in New Orleans in the 2024 American Athletic Conference Opener.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes look to improve to 5-0 on Friday Night at 7:30 PM at Hard Rock Stadium against the 2-2 Virginia Tech Hokies. This will be Miami’s fifth straight game in Florida.
The Hurricanes make their first trip of the year a week later as they face California at 10:30 PM ET. Now we’ll see conference realignment with the cross country traveling.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@Gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth.
You can find all of his broadcasts by subscribing to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.
Finally, Scott wrote a book, “Lessons From The Microphone “ which can be purchased at Amazon-Kindle and Barnes & Noble.
